BAYFLEX, THE PROJECT THAT DRIVES SUSTAINABLE INTELLIGENCE
A single conversation can spark a revolution. What began as an unexpected exchange between two scientists has grown into BAYFLEX, an ambitious European project aiming to reshape how electronics, intelligence, and sustainability can work hand in hand.
Dr Hans Kleemann, research group leader at the University of Technology in Dresden, has brought a wealth of experience to the project. A physicist by training, his journey has taken him from Germany to Korea and the United States, before returning to Dresden in 2017 to lead an independent group focusing on sustainable and printed electronics. That expertise now lies at the heart of BAYFLEX, a project funded by the European Innovation Council Pathfinder that seeks to revolutionise how we build intelligent systems. The project’s goal is bold: to create a new kind of probabilistic computing device using affordable and environmentally friendly organic materials, which could one day form patches that interface with the human body, sensing, interpreting, and transmitting data with minimal energy and environmental impact.
The story of BAYFLEX begins at a conference in the United States. “It actually happened by chance,” Hans recalls. “I got to know Dr. Laurie Calvet, who’s the coordinator of the project, while sitting in a completely unrelated session, and I did not know her. She looked at my screen and asked whether I was doing neuromorphic computing. I had no idea what she was talking about!” But that brief exchange turned into a lasting collaboration. “She was just very open and curious. We started talking, and we’ve kept talking ever since,” Hans says. A few months later, he visited Laurie in Paris, and together they began shaping what would later become BAYFLEX. “Laurie is an inspiring person,” he adds. “She has so many great ideas, and we have the technology and knowledge to really put them into practice.”
Forming the right team was no small feat. “Getting a big European project like this is, to some extent, a lottery,” Hans admits. The BAYFLEX proposal went through several iterations, submitted three times, each with a different consortium. “Laurie and I were always at the core because we were confident that this part of the technology would really work. But we needed strong partners, from materials science to application use cases, who could complement what we were doing.” This slow, iterative process paid off. What emerged was a consortium that brings together diverse expertise, each partner contributing a vital piece of the technological puzzle.
Behind BAYFLEX lies a simple but powerful idea: making decisions efficiently, the way humans do. “We build small decision trees,” Hans explains.
“As humans, we make decisions based on conditional probabilities, e.g., if the sun is shining and there’s no traffic, I’ll go to the beach. We’re trying to recreate this conditional probability in hardware using printed electronic devices.”
The approach could drastically reduce the environmental footprint of modern computing. “Right now, we generate enormous amounts of data that need to be sent to huge data centres,” he says. “It’s efficient for business, but ecologically, it’s insane.” He gives an example:
“If you have a smartwatch that monitors your heartbeat, it sends all that data to a server somewhere in Iceland just to decide if you’re having a heart attack. That’s not efficient, nor is it smart.”
Instead, BAYFLEX proposes a different model, where small, local systems can make intelligent decisions independently, transmitting only essential information. “It’s about building devices that are autonomous, power-efficient, and intelligent,” Hans says. “They can reduce the amount of data we send, making the entire system more sustainable.”
No ambitious project comes without its share of challenges. “You’re writing a proposal that’s intentionally full of risk,” Hans says. “There are things you simply don’t know yet.” To manage this, his team developed a risk mitigation plan, anticipating possible issues and preparing ways to address them. He also points out the importance of collaboration beyond BAYFLEX itself. “Sometimes, I have projects that synergetically align with BAYFLEX,” he explains. “For example, another project focuses on making electrochemical transistors more stable. It’s part of our strategy to reduce risks and strengthen our core development.” What keeps the team going, despite these challenges? “I’m lucky to have a highly motivated and diverse team,” he says. “Each member has found their niche. It’s that personal commitment that makes it possible.”
For Hans, the project’s influence extends far beyond the laboratory. “Based on this project, I started my own lecture series here in Dresden,” he says. “I was so intrigued by this minimalistic computing approach. Teaching it helps me learn too, and it’s fascinating to rediscover the beauty of statistics and probability, things people often overlook.” He laughs as he admits, “No one really likes statistics, it sucks, but it turns out we humans are quite good at it. We’re natural at guessing, and that’s exactly what this computing approach is about.”
The project has also opened doors to community engagement. “Near my home, there’s the Technische Sammlungen Museum in Dresden. My kids love it,” he says warmly.
“Through BAYFLEX, we started a collaboration with them. Together with our partners in Saint-Étienne, we’re developing a suitcase that demonstrates our experiments. We can take it to museums and show children how these ideas work. It’s wonderful.”
Perhaps what makes BAYFLEX stand out most is its holistic view of technology and responsibility. “We began conducting our own life cycle assessment of the technology,” Hans explains. “Usually, that’s done by external experts, but we wanted to understand our ecological impact ourselves.” This initiative, though not part of the original plan, was so valuable that the European Union awarded the team a booster grant to share their findings. “It’s nice that they recognise the added value we bring,” he says.
Reflecting on the journey, Hans’ story captures what BAYFLEX truly represents: not just a technological innovation, but a human one. It’s a story of curiosity meeting purpose, of chance encounters that turn into collaboration, and of a team determined to build something sustainable, for science, for society, and for the planet. As Hans puts it simply,
“You need confidence that you can solve the problems ahead. And sometimes, the most exciting discoveries start with a conversation you never planned to have.”
Cover Photo by Google DeepMind on Unsplash.
